1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to amusement devices and particularly to those employing magnetic fields to create amusing effects by suspending a figure having therein a longitudinally polarized magnetic in cantilevered fashion over a base containing a flat magnet.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of magnetically actuated amusement devices are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,659 discloses a toy figure having a magnet affixed thereto with substantially vertical polar alignment, said toy figure being supported above a base having a magnet therein also of substantially vertical polar alignment. The toy figure is supported above the base by a support means including a rigid portion and a flexible portion. The two magnets are orientated with like poles closest together. The center of gravity of the toy lies off axis to the magnet forces between a magnet. When the support means is displaced, the figure will appear to skip and dance above the base. However, both the figure and the magnet therein remain substantially vertically orientated.
While not strictly an amusement device, the invention disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,707 also discloses employing a base magnet having substantially vertical polar orientation and an object suspended thereabove by a tether, said object having a magnet contained therein. However, the polar orientation of the magnet contained in the object is longitudinal. By offsetting the base magnet with respect to the point of attachment of the tether, the object is held in a more or less fixed position with the pole of like polarity suspended above the base magnet. The repulsive forces between the like poles in the object and base magnets are claimed to suspend the object above the base magnet. The other pole of the magnet inside the object does not overlie the base magnet. In order for the object to be held in a "floating" position, it is necessary that the tether between the objects and its means of support be rigid or the end of the object carrying the like pole will simply flip over.
In my above referenced application Ser. No. 740,328, I disclose a magnetically actuated amusement device wherein the magnet contained within the base is randomly repositional therein. An object such as a pointer is pendulously suspended above the base. The orientation of the magnets contained in the base and in the pointer are such that the unsupported end of the pointer will be cantilevered into a position where it is at least as high as the supported end. By randomly repositioning the magnet within the base, the suspended pointer will be repositioned in a random and unpredictable manner.
However, it has been found that other amusing effects can be obtained by forming the base such that the flat magnet contained therein of vertically disposed polarity is rigidly fixed in the base. At least one object containing a magnet of longitudinally disposed polarity is suspended with its point of suspension centered above the base. Rather than having to reposition the magnet in the base, as is the case in my above referenced application Ser. No. 740,328, it is possible to cause amusing gyrations of the suspended object by simply moving the object or the tether which attaches it to the point of suspension. By selecting the weight of the object and the magnetic strength of the base magnet, it is possible to suspend the object such that it is oriented in a cantilevered fashion, with its free end approximately as high as its tethered end.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a magnetically actuated amusement device wherein an object is freely suspended above the center of a base, the object containing a magnet of longitudinally orientated polarity and the base a fixed magnet of vertically orientated polarity, such that the free end of the object is of like polarity to the upper pole of the base of the magnet within the base, so as to cause a cantilevered effect.
It would also be desireable to provide a device with a plurality of such suspended objects so as to create further amusing effects due to the interaction of all of the magnets.